A historic LA mural was whitewashed, and the artist is fed up with the lack of respect

LOS ANGELES - Judy Baca saw the graffiti marring her giant mural of an Olympic runner as little acts of oppression. It was as if the taggers, who spray-painted big bubbly letters over the legs of the female athlete, wanted her to trip and fall on the home stretch.

But the Los Angeles artist was shocked when she learned that sometime in March - during Women's History Month - someone had painted over the mural, concealing the woman entirely. The artwork, commissioned in 1984 and painted on the 110 Freeway near the 4th Street exit in downtown Los Angeles, commemorates the first time women were allowed to run an Olympic marathon, at the 1984 Summer Games in L.A.

"Covering it in total was the ultimate act," Baca said.

The mural is among a long